Reserved Area

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Noise Project

Ports and harbors are characterized by very several and complex operations, especially if compared with other logistic nodes. This make them an important source of pollution mainly when ports are localized very close to urban areas. Particularly, noise pollution analysis is complicated due to the presence in the same area of several types of sound sources with different characteristics from each other. Noise from ports areas, in fact, come not only from ferries and ships and trade operations (engines and ventilation systems, embarking-disembarking actions) but also from industrial and shipyards activities (repair shipyards, noise from operations on hulls in dry docks) as well auxiliary services (such as transshipmentcontainers and trailer truckshandling noise, in particular dueto the impacts during positioning, cranes sound warning devices, power plants) localized in the piers and docks of the port area.In this way, noise pollution can produce negative effects both to the natural eco-system and to the urban population, causing negative effects and damages on human health.
To assess and manage the environmental port noise, several actions and solutions have to be studied and applied, in order to allow the development of trade without compromising the quality of life in port cities. Since in ports there are several noise sources typologies, the noise characterization in this ambit should be optimized through environmental acoustical monitoring plans that assume in this context a relevant role especially considering the effects induced on the near residential area. Monitoring plans, in fact, should be developed in order to identify through phonometric measurements the most critical noise zones and recognize the causes that have produced them, to acoustically characterize the sound sources (sound power, spectral characteristics, duration) and evaluate what kind of measurement methodology to use for characterizing them and the number of people harmfully effected. Then, the knowledge of the specific territory should allow the activation of operative actions with the aim of improving the acoustical comfort of critical areas. A particular importance has to be directed of the choice of acoustic descriptors and indicators, useful to correlate the sound pressure level measurements and the percentage of persons who have negative effects on their health and to assess the damage caused by noise in the exposed population.
Therefore, only in this way, management actions against noise in port areas can be planned and developed by improving procedures, policies and tools and intervention priorities can be fixed.